The wolves seem to focus on Shiva as the pack rushed towards her. An explosion went off catching all four of the beasts in the blast. Their yelps of pain could be heard from the explosion but, the debris made it hard to determine what exactly was happening. On top of that, snow started to come down heavily. The lead horror emerged first from the cloud and lunged at Shiva. Ravana got in the way only to find black tentacles holding his arms. The wolves had him and dragged him away from the fight a short distance before Ravana planted his feet and let off an aggressive shout. He at that moment started swinging the wolf horrors around, slamming them into trees in attempts to get them off of him. The other two follow the leader as he made a B-line for Shiva. She sent rapid fire shots of her explosions at him but, he was able to dodge the blasts effortlessly, the creatures follow close behind him. “Trisula”! Shiva called out as she summoned her weapon only when the enemy was within range. She thrusted the weapon at the horror with the strange mouth. Out from his palms came blades that looked like they are made of bone. Hanna jumped into the mix as she swung the Gungnir at the wolves. They just stay out of range of her swings until there was an opening. Then, and only then, they lunge at her causing audible snapping noises as they sank their teeth into the air around her. When she saw how close they were getting Hanna went on the defensive.

Shiva was little to no challenge to the horror up close. It deflected her weapon with one bone sword and slashed at her with the other. A shallow scratch on her left shoulder caused an outburst of pain from Shiva. She held her ground though as she continued attempting to fight off the horror. Each attempt to defend herself only resulted in another scratch. The right shoulder, her left rib, left thigh, at that last cut Shiva fell onto her right knee.

Ravana saw her get cut the first time. When he did he bellowed loudly as a strange red aura began to radiate off of him. This seemed to give him a burst of strength as he pulled the wolves that had seized his arms to him. He then alternated between the two beasts as his punches literally opened up sections of their bodies as he made contact. When they stopped moving and released him, he charged in Shiva’s direction. The left thigh was the last wound that horror would leave on her. Ravana closed in on the horror attacking her and pulled him away from her and began delivering punches to the creature. This one wasn’t as brittle as the wolves. He took the hits without any sort of damage showing on his strange body. This fact began to aggravate poor Ravana as his shouts grew louder and more animalistic.

Hanna is cornered by the remaining two wolves at this point. She has stopped swinging the Gungnir and merely held it pointed at one wolf and then the other. Once her back was literally up against a tree, they lunged. The uneasy sound of ripping flesh filled everyone’s ears. Hanna screamed and closed her eyes. But, she quickly opened them again to find she was unharmed. Both the wolves dropped dead and Loki appeared behind them with the Dainslief at the ready and the weapon coated in the creatures’ blood. “I got it from here”. He said as he rushed towards Ravana and his opponent.

Ravana seemed to have the horror under control so, Loki stopped and observed as the larger ascended released his aggression on the strange horror. Loki was just about to put away the Dainslief when Ravana reeled back for what he thought might be the finishing blow. He swung his fist but, the horror dodged backwards just in time. In the same motion it put one of those bone swords through Ravana’s right forearm and continued through his left shoulder. Ravana screamed in pain as the horror seemed to break off the weapon, leaving it piercing through the larger ascended. He did this to avoid Loki who appeared and slashed at the horror with no luck in getting even a scratch on it. Those odd twists and turns of its body made it difficult to pin it down. Loki decided to take a different approach. He pointed the evil weapon downward as he attempted to stab the monster. In response it went back and into a crab walk position only arching it’s back dramatically as the mouth on it’s stomach caught the sword between its teeth. Loki stared wide eyed at the event as he tried to push the blade forward in attempts to stab its insides. Tentacles begin to pour out from between the fangs and start reaching for Loki. The trickster panicked and released the sword. Loki backed up and tried to recall the weapon to him with no results. “Should’ve figured you wouldn’t come when called”…. Loki hissed under his breath at the weapon as he moved to in front of Hanna in case the creature launched a counterattack.

“Thank you Loki. You’re too kind”. A whisper boomed over for everyone to hear or so Loki thought. “This consolation prize might be just the tool to pick the lock on my prison. Abholos… you’ve done well….” The voice lulled almost peacefully as the horror with the mouth on it’s stomach slowly vanished.

“Wait! What!? Who are you!?” Loki called out as he scanned the sky, where it sounded like the voice was coming from.

Ravana snapped the bone weapon lodged in his arm and shoulder in the middle so he could move his arm freely. “What was that Loki?! You lost the Dainslief? And you let that thing get away”. Ravana grumbled as he grabbed the piece of bone in his shoulder and slowly began pulling it out.

“Abholos…” Loki said as he searched his memory as if that name should be familiar.

“What”!? Ravana screamed both out of irritation and pain as he got the half out of his shoulder.

“That’s what the voice called it. Didn’t you hear?... Of course you didn’t…” Loki corrected himself mid sentence. “Our enemy is strong and apparently getting stronger”.

“You talking to yourself over there”? Shiva chimed in as she went to Ravana, placing one hand on the entry wound and the other on the exit wound of Ravana’s shoulder. Steam began to rise off of him in the spots where shiva touched him.

“Huh? No. Just whoever’s listening”. Loki announced as he looked over to Hanna. “Good news! I think I have a way for all of us to go to Asgard!” He chirped out happily as he made it to the blonde’s side.

“You mean you two”? Shiva asked as she helped Ravana pull the remaining bone shard from his forearm.

“You’re not coming with us”? Hanna asked almost sounding disappointed. She even lowered her head slightly.

“Don’t get all clingy on me”. Shiva responded almost laughing. “The witch said for you to go. I have my priorities. Like, Ravana just got injured. Even for an ascended these are pretty deep wounds. Probably take a week maybe two to recover”. She continued plainly as she cauterized the wound on Ravana’s forearm like she had with his shoulder.

Ravana growled out through the pain as she ‘mended’ him. “Thank you Lord Shiva”. He responded as he exhaled in a relieved fashion.

“Plus I hear Asgard is covered in fire now. I wouldn’t get much peace for meditation there. Frankly, I’m not sure why Baba Yaga would suggest it”. She said as she was clearly more concerned with Ravana’s wounds.

“Covered in fire”? Hanna repeated out of shock as she looked to Loki for some sort of explanation.

“Ragnorok. It was the war that ended Asgard. It was essentially our ‘world war’. All the realms got involved and Musphelheim won. We haven’t gone back since. But, with Odin, in your prime, we should eventually be able to go back and reclaim it. For a while, that’s all Thor would talk about. It was kinda annoying”. Loki stated, arms crossed and nodding slowly.

“Alright. So, war torn home world means…. Wait…. That mean I get to go into space”? Hanna asked tilting her head inquisitively.

“Like Baba Yaga’s place, it’s more like it’s own dimension. A much bigger dimension but, it’s not like you can hop in a rocket and go there. Gotta hop a dimension or two. I’ll take you to your castle. That should jog something. We won’t stay long though. I should probably see if you can even breathe the air….” Loki went on as a knife with a blade no longer than eight inches and looking as if it were made of green glass appeared in Loki’s hand. The handle of this weapon is jet black and had a green gem on the very end of it.

Hanna’s eyes went wide as she eyed the weapon. One of Odin’s memories played in her head.

A greyed Odin, beard and all stood in the presence of a unnecessarily large forge that was hard at work. The fire crackled loudly as Odin is joined by two much shorter yet, bearded men. The three of them laugh as they work at the forge. “Your majesty… perhaps I should take it from here”. The larger of the two shorter men said as he took a mallet from Odin’s hands. Odin nodded and wiped his forehead of sweat.

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“Afraid I’ll take the title of greatest blacksmith in all of Asgard from you”? Odin chimed out as he laughed and stepped aside for the dwarf.

“No chance my lord. These materials are very uneasy. If you’re too rough with them then, they won’t be of any use to us”. The dwarf laughed as the other gentleman closer to his size shushed him.

“Brokkr! You shouldn’t speak so plainly to the All Father”. The other dwarf chimed in sheepishly.

“You need not worry Sindri”! Odin insisted as he sat down on the workbench mistaking it for a place to sit. “I was just curious what it is like to make your own weapons. Maybe I should start with something simpler though. How could I ever hope to make a magic weapon with my little knowledge of magic. I appreciate you letting me have hand in Loki’s wedding present”. He continued smiling at the dwarven brothers.

Hanna came back from the memory with tears running down from her left eye. She touched these tears and smiled. “He’ll love it….” She whispered as she looked back to the weapon.

“Huh?” Loki grunted as he looked to the green knife and back to Hanna. “You? Recognize this”? Loki asked as he opened his hand and balanced the weapon on his open palm for her to see it better.

Hanna nodded as she wiped away her tears. “I do. It was made by two…. Shorter gentleman, Brock and Sidney? But, I helped. It was a wedding present, right”? She asked as she got closer to the dagger to get a better view of it.

“Brokkr and Sindri….” Loki corrected. “I didn’t realize… I didn’t realize you had a hand in it. That you cared…..” Loki cleared his throat then squeaked quite audibly trying not to cry. “It’s called Bolverkr or the deceiver… it has a neat yet… oddly specific ability. You see… it can take on the appearance of any weapon the user can name and copy the ability of any weapon that has ever been in the users ‘rightful’ possession”. Loki said all of that quite proudly before he got to the last part. Putting an odd emphasis on ‘rightful’ almost as if he were mocking the word.

“Are you saying it can be Mjolnir or Dainslief”? Ravana asked now looking at Loki with disbelief as he held the wound on his arm.

“Kinda… Dainslief never liked me very much. It rejected me just like Mjolnir did when I stole it. But, there are weapons I’ve stolen that haven’t rejected me that Bolverkr can become….” Loki said grinning at the dagger in his hand.

“So by ‘rightful’ you mean; not rejected by”? Shiva asked in a sarcastic tone.

Loki sighed and dropped his head at her question. “Yes…..” Loki responded solemnly before he raised his head again and brought the green blade to his own lips. “Bolverkr! Your name is Gjallarhorn”! Loki stated as the weapon in his hand became a large golden horn that is encrusted with ornate feathered wings on either side of the opening. The instrument itself is as long as Loki’s arm and almost twice as thick.

Hanna shrieks out of surprise while Shiva gives an honest gasp of amazement. Ravana looked to Shiva with a concerned brow raise. Shiva cleared her throat. “What? it’s pretty….” She admitted quietly.

“Am I to understand that will do what the real Gjallarhorn can do”? Ravana asked as he too looked over the horn.

“Wait. You said ‘weapon’. That’s not a weapon that is an instrument”. Shiva spat out as she looked to Loki with a look twisting on her face that started to doubt Loki entirely.

“You hit somebody hard enough with anything and it becomes a weapon.” Loki retorted as he leered at Shiva as he admired the horn. “I actually hit Heimdallr with it when I stole it from him. It was in my possession for almost three-hundred years after that. I used it to sneak into Baba Yaga’s cabin all those years ago”. He stated casually as he brought the horn to his lips. He didn’t blow on it yet. “Before Heimdallr mastered the ability, this is how he opened the bifrost. This one won’t be as strong as the real thing but, it should get us to Asgard”. Loki assured.

“How about India”? Ravana asked as he admired his wound.

Loki nodded. “Sure I’ll give ya a lift”. Loki retorted with a wink of his brown colored eye. With a blast of the horn a rainbow doorway that mocked curtains blowing in the wind appeared before them. The trickster offered the horn to Ravana. “Put your hand on it. Picture where you want to go. When you see it in the bifrost, then and only then walk through”. Loki stated as he looked to the mystical doorway with a half smile.

Shiva and Ravana approached slowly and Ravana did as Loki instructed. Meanwhile Shiva eyed the door admiring how beautiful it was. “It’s beautiful Loki… you should really keep an eye on it”. Shiva said as she pointed to her own eye that would correspond to his brown eye.

“Keep an?...” Loki started to ask as he pieced it together quickly. As he did so he remembered Baba Yaga revealing the real color of his right eye. ‘Oh fuck’ he mouthed as he released the false Gjallarhorn with one hand and put it over his right eye. The color changes to match the green eye. ‘Thanks’ he mouthed to Shiva.

She gave Loki a roll of her eyes and a shrug and followed it with a look of disappointment. “There Lord Shiva. That will be the perfect place to cleanse and unblock your chakras”. Ravana said aloud. “I’ll go first to make sure-“ he started as Shiva stepped in front of him and walked through the portal. “Wait! Lord Shiva”! Ravana called as he chased after her into the portal. When they were both inside it became white light and lifted up into the sky and quickly out of site.

Hanna waved as the ball of light departed. “They didn’t even say goodbye”. The blonde got out in a childish whimper.

Loki laughed full heartedly. “I wouldn’t worry. We’ll see them again. I’m sure of it. Now! Our turn!” He called out in a uncharacteristically energetic way.

“What we’re going to Asgard right now”?! Hanna screeched as she looked down at her snowsuit.

“No. We’ll stop back at home. Let you prepare. While you do that, I will poke in on Asgard. Make sure it’s safe and all that. Hate to drop you in the middle of a battle or in a not human friendly environment. You know like you can’t breathe the air or something”. He stated more collected and confidently.

Hanna sighed in relief and nodded…

Asgard

Contrary to common belief, the land is not covered in flames. All the colors in the leaves have autumn colors. The grass is the same reds, yellows and oranges as the trees. The air does have a hint of smoke in it. Perhaps from a nearby fire. At the very least it seems to smell of burning wood. The sun shines but, it’s tinted. Otherwise it doesn’t have any major differences from earth. The calm is broken by the sound of a large body hitting the ground. The creature that fell is a ten foot humanoid with a skeletal goat’s head instead of a human one. It wears what looks like semi cooled lava for armor. For a moment it’s eyes were glowing like a jack-o-lantern but the light faded. Thor placed his boot covered right foot on the creature’s chest as he twirled Mjolnir like a baton. His other hand was at his forehead as he looked off into the distance. Bellona strolled behind him with her sword impatiently tapping against her own shoulder. She cleared her throat as she looked in the same direction Thor was. “You’re lost aren’t you”? She asked as her stare went to Thor’s deep in thought mug.

Thor cleared his throat and shook his head quickly for a moment or two. “Of course not! Asgard is my home. I was born here! I strolled…” he paused and suddenly dropped his head out of shame. “Okay yeah…. I’m lost. I haven’t been here for thousands of years. Father forbid it. I thought I’d just remember… I guess not”… he admitted slowly as he took another look at the landscape.

Bellona sighed and shrugged her shoulders even with the sword on them. “Isn’t there a map or any sort of way to locate this place”? She asked as she rolled her neck in a complete circle.

The sound of breaking trees and celebratory hollering broke Bellona and Thor’s conversation. This is followed by the sight of a boar that’s head is as big as Hercules’ entire body, charged in blindly knocking over everything in its path and Hercules was riding it. To make it stop he delivered a punch to the top of its head. The beast stopped as the hit caused it to flinch. Hercules then jumped off of it and casually strolled over to his companions. “This place is great! I should have come here ages ago”! He said as the boar ran off eagerly. “What are we looking for again”? Hercules asked curiously as he slapped both Thor and Bellona on the back.

Both the other warriors looked at Hercules with any enthusiasm drained from their face. Thor cleared his throat before stepping off the creature and walking away from Hercules. “Brokkr and Sindri’s forge. It was overrun during Ragnorok and we had to abandon it but, in it there were so many weapons and a few that weren’t even finished. If we could get some of those weapons who knows what we could do with them. I’m sure Surtur saw value in it and there’s no way he demolished it”. Thor went on as he looked around for something familiar. “There might be a map in Odin’s castle but…” Thor hesitated as he turned towards where he’s fairly certain the castle is.

“But you don’t know where that is either”? Bellona asked grinning over Thor’s shoulder.

“Of course I do”! He complained as he got away from her. “But, Surtur could be there. Sitting on my father’s throne”. Thor stated casting the Mjolnir back into his arsenal and crossing his arms.

“So? If he is then, we’ll kick his ass”! Hercules let off triumphantly as he and Bellona got on either side of Thor.

Thor looked to his friends. “My father, my uncle and Tyr tried to kill Surtur…. They weren’t successful. That bastard lit the world on fire in response. I’d rather wait until we have some sort of backup”. Thor’s voice was reminiscent, almost lost in thought.

The three of them grew quiet as they all thought about the consequences.

Odin’s Castle

The structure stands in the middle of a burned and battle tattered city. From the looks of it no one has lived there for the thousands of years the Norse gods have been away. The castle used to be one color but, it was hard to tell which one through the soot and debris. Though damaged, the castle is still very much livable though not very lively. The buildings around it are almost completely in ruin and it’s hard to tell what anything was before. A voice like thunder roared over the silence. “Ragnorok has passed… but our prophecy will be fulfilled. I can feel the time quick approaching. Come to me my prey….”